Get Secrets That Other Email Agencies Won't Reveal
Ecommerce email marketing can be quite like navigating through a field of landmines. One wrong step and you’ll lose a lot of subscribers and, conversely, your revenue.
That’s why you need to know exactly which types of ecommerce emails you should be sending religiously. When you do, your cash register will be singing choruses that will make you smile all the way to the bank.
I know what you’re probably thinking – email is an archaic communication that people don’t care about anymore. Well, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Email is alive and kicking every other marketing channel’s butt. Let me quickly give you 5 good reasons why stores still need to use ecommerce emails as part of their marketing strategy.
One of the biggest reasons to invest in email marketing as an ecommerce business is that email has the highest number of users among all communication channels. According to research conducted by Radicati, there are close to 4 billion active email users. Compared that to the 3.5 billion active social media users and email definitely has the edge.
Yes, despite all the hype over other channels such as social media, chatbots, and other communication channels, consumers still prefer email as their top communication channel when interacting with their favorite brands. This means if you’re not using email to keep in touch with your customers, you’re sabotaging your own success.
Of all the marketing channels you may have in your toolbox, none allows you to create and send personalized campaigns at the level which email does. By leveraging powerful tracking and analytics tools, email marketing software gives you insight into who your customer is and what they’re looking for. As a result, you can easily tailor a message that converts better than any message you can post on social media or anywhere else.
Marketing is a lot like asking a girl out on a date. Once she gives you her number, chances of converting, sorry, winning her are higher. Getting a customer’s email address is much like getting a girl’s phone number. It’s permission to enter their personal space. This is why emails have more impact than social media posts, push notifications, and any other types of messages.
$44 for every $1 you spend. Those are the kinds of ROI email is capable of bringing in. With numbers like that, email marketing, then, is a no brainer. Note, however, that getting insane ROIs like these is no child’s play. You need to know your way around email marketing. And one aspect of email marketing you need to nail is to know the types of ecommerce emails you need to be sending to your subscriber base.
Apple’s email campaign to promote the new Mac is an incredible upsell email. In true blue Apple style, the email is clear, concise and precise. There’s no scope of customers’ attention wavering elsewhere but on the messaging and that’s what makes the email an absolute delight for the recipients. Pause, and think for a moment, wouldn’t you love to receive similar emails in your inbox? Your answer is right there!
Click to previewBy default, the human brain is wired to retain information that’s given out in three’s. Levi’s nails it perfectly in its welcome email, which includes three primary actions the recipients can take. It also offers an incentive to the first-timers, giving them 20% discount for signing up. It contains everything that’s pivotal to a welcome email.
Click to previewBirchbox takes the minimalist route with this promotional email, which engages users to participate in a game and claim the price. The typography is distinct, and so is the visual used in the email. All in all, it comes together as a kickass email that does justice to the brand and its core offerings.
Click to previewPersonalization is the name of the game for all customers out there. So, why should ecommerce brands be left behind? The emailer from Kav does it like no other. Apart from making the message crystal clear to the readers, it presents the USPs of the brand in a single emailer. We love the use of the big, bold hero image - letting the product do all the talking.
Click to previewEyebob’s email has a prominent CTA - Book an Appointment along with a range of eyewear in the next fold and the benefits of the brand. It’s clean, minimal, and does what an ecommerce emailer should do - retain the interest of the customers and lead them to take a call to action.
Click to previewThe announcement emailer from Soak and Sleep provides a clear cut messaging on their product range. It not just directs the readers to browse the products, but also gives a quick glimpse of the same. And to add on, they also have a quick social proof - customer reviews, which makes a strong case for buying their products.
Click to previewLush brand emphasizes on foot care in this emailer. It keeps things simple and minimalistic with a CTA to take customers to its product page. In addition, it also highlights its USPs, and announces a social media contest. It is an emailer that does the trick of retaining customers’ interest almost instantaneously.
Click to previewOld Navy’s email looks more like a neat poster, with all the information handy for the customers. From getting a 20% discount to list of new arrivals, the welcome email post sign up is worth taking a note of.
Click to previewNow that you know how important email is to your business, let’s quickly look at 16 ecommerce email types you need to be sending to your subscribers.
One of the most important types of ecommerce emails you need to master is the lead nurture email. Lead nurture emails are simply emails that are sent to build a relationship with subscribers. Most importantly, they serve the purpose of onboarding new subscribers, winning their trust, and moving them to the next stage of your sales funnel. And studies show that brands that employ lead nurturing strategies generate over 50% sales-ready leads – and that at a 33% lower acquisition cost.
Here are 2 important lead nurture emails every ecommerce business should be sending:
A welcome email sequence is specifically designed to become more familiar with your brand. They do this by:
While the exact number of emails needed for an effective welcome email sequence varies, anything between 3-7 should do the job. This number is determined by several factors, such as your business model. Read more about Welcome Email Examples here.
Click to previewThe average email list decays by about 22% every year. However, of the 22% that have stopped engaging with your emails, a sizable percentage can be encouraged to revive their relationship with your brand. This can be pulled off by running a reactivation campaign. A reactivation campaign is simply a series of emails designed to get inactive subscribers to open and interact with your emails.
So, before you delete those inactive subscribers, run a reactivation campaign first. You’ll be surprised at how many subscribers will “come back”.
Click to previewPromotional emails are emails that are sent to subscribers for the purpose of encouraging them to make a purchase. Usually, a sale is offered by offering an incentive. Examples of promotional emails you need to be sending include:
An offer email is one of those ecommerce emails you send out to your subscribers to offer them an incentive such as a discount, coupon, free shipping or training, or any other limited-time offer. Offer emails can be used to:
No matter your business model, sending out offer emails should be something you should do regularly. You’ll definitely benefit from them as this is the type o0f email with the highest open and engagement rates.
Click to previewAs the name suggests, upsell emails are designed to get a customer who has recently purchased to get an upgraded version of your product. One of the reasons this type of email works so well is that your customer already trusts your brand and products are more likely to respond to your recommendations. And no, this is not a form of grabbing as much money as you can from a customer, proper upselling is offering your customers a better product. A few tips on creating winning upsell email campaigns include:
Many people don’t buy something until they need it – and sometimes, you need to show them what they really need.
Click to previewLike upsell emails, cross-sell emails are also aimed at getting a paying customer to buy something else from your store.
What’s the difference?
While upselling involves getting customers to buy a better product or upgrade their account, cross-selling involves selling your customers other products related to what they’ve already bought.
When cross-selling:
Executed well, a cross-sell campaign can help not only drive sales but also position you as an authority to be trusted for recommendations.
Click to previewAnother email you have to send to your email list religiously is the new product announcement email. Every time you have a new product in stock, let your subscribers know, after all, that’s probably one of the reasons they signed up in the first place.
New product emails work best with those who love to be the first to own the latest stuff. Using your analytics tools, you can easily identify them and run a campaign specifically targeted for them. A couple of advantages of sending out this type of email for ecommerce include:
When you launch a new product or get a new inventory, don’t expect people to find it by visiting your website. Be proactive and let your subscribers know about it. You can even build buzz by talking about the new product before it goes on sale.
Click to previewEveryone loves holidays.
They are a time of great joy and loose purse strings.
And that’s why you need to help your customers celebrate in style – by gifting themselves or a loved one with something from your shop. You do this by sending out holiday emails. As the name suggests, these are email campaigns sent over a holiday season. Here are a few pointers to ensure your ecommerce email campaign results in some merriment on your part:
One disadvantage of running holiday email campaigns is that everyone will be doing it. This is why you need to design your campaign and email content in such a way that they stand out from the crowd.
Click to previewWhile an abandoned cart is a pain in the…, well you know, it is actually a great marketing opportunity. This is because an abandoned cart tells you that the customer was ready to buy.
No matter the reason for your customer failing to complete the checkout process, send out a cart recovery email campaign. According to research, cart recovery emails have a whopping 43.3% open rate. The same study reveals that the conversion rate for cart abandonment emails is slightly over 18%. This is why one of the most important ecommerce emails in your repertoire is the cart abandonment email.
Read more about Abandoned Cart Email here.
Click to previewEveryone needs to feel appreciated. That’s why you need to send birthday emails to your customers. Not only will your customers feel appreciated, but they’ll spend more on your store too – 382% more than they would spend when you send a regular promotional email. That’s right, birthday emails generate 342% more revenue than other promotional emails. Definitely not an ecommerce email to be left out of your arsenal.
Click to previewWith many ecommerce brands being launched every day, the competition for customers becomes stiffer by the day.
How do successful brands continue to thrive?
Winning brands have mastered the art of engagement. Keeping your customers engaged is a great way to ensure that your brand is always top of mind when your customer needs something you supply.
So, how can you win the battle to keep your customers engaged?
By sending engagement emails. Here are some engagement email types you need to be sending:
Many ecommerce stores overlook the humble newsletter in their email marketing strategy. That’s because they think this type of email has no returns. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Newsletter emails, although primarily designed to be informative, can be used to promote your products. In fact, experts agree that a newsletter email should be 90% informational and 10% promotional.
This means a newsletter is like a double edged sword – driving engagement and sales at the same time. Therefore, omitting it from your email marketing strategy is shooting yourself in the foot.
So why are newsletters some of the best ecommerce email types to keep your subscribers engaged? Here’s why:
If you’re not sending out newsletters, there’s no better time to start than now. They are a great way to build a tribe of loyal customers.
See our guide on 60 Email Newsletter Examples for more inspirations
Click to previewEducational emails have one primary goal – to give your customers value-based content. This is content that is beneficial to them or helps them get the best experience out of your product. One of the best ways to deliver educational emails is right after they sign up. This will show that your business is more customer-focused than it is sales-focused, thereby helping you earn their trust.
So what kind of content can you include in an educational email?
The sky’s the limit as to what kind of content you can pack into your educational emails. The key is to give your audience information that they find useful.
Click to previewIf there’s one thing that will help you inspire your customers to stick with your brand, it’s customer appreciation. Don’t take your loyal customers for granted and assume they’ll continue being loyal. Customer loyalty is never automatic – you have to foster it. And one great way to do that is by sending out customer loyalty emails.
A customer loyalty email is simply an email whose purpose is to reward loyal customers for their support. You can show your appreciation by:
An appreciated customer always appreciates in their customer lifetime value. This is because they’ll not only keep on buying from you, but they’re also more likely to increase their spending.
Click to previewAnother ecommerce email type that’s never given the effort it deserves is the transactional email.
What exactly is a transactional email?
A transactional email is a type of email that facilitates a transaction between you and your customer. Because they contain valuable information a customer needs, their open rates are quite high.
Unfortunately, most ecommerce businesses give little thought to this email type as it is usually sent after the businesses goal has been reached. However, executed well, transactional emails can help build relationships with your customers.
While everyone does send thank you emails, many ecommerce businesses dont send them the right way. Sure, the main purpose of a thank you email is to thank your customers for their patronage, but it can do so much more than that. It can lead to repeat buyers if you design it well and send it strategically. Some ideas for strategically sending thank you emails (apart from after a sale) include sending:
Of course, every thank you email you send must also contain an offer as a reward. By so doing, you’ll be killing 2 birds with one stone – appreciating your customer and driving sales.
Click to previewWhen a customer purchases a product, it’s important that you confirm the order with them using an order confirmation email. In essence, this is simply a digital receipt.
But for the savvy marketer it’s more than that – it’s another great marketing opportunity. Designed well, an order confirmation email can be used to spark excitement and foster repeat sales. Here’s how you can do just that:
Every opportunity you get to communicate with a customer is a marketing opportunity. And an order confirmation email is no different,
Click to previewOne ecommerce email that can have a big impact on your business’ growth is a feedback email. This is because it’s the one email that gets your customers to tell you exactly what they need from you and how they want it delivered. How do you get customers to share their thoughts with you?
Customer feedback is essential in ensuring you offer your customers exactly what they need. Failure to do so could lead to a high unsubscribe rate.
While feedback emails usually fall under transactional emails (if sent post purchase and in regard to a purchase) they also work well as engagement emails if they’re sent independently from a transaction.
See our guide on 9 Types of Transactional Emails You Need To Be Sending.
Click to previewNow that we’ve looked at the top 15 ecommerce emails you should be sending, let’s quickly look at 4 that few do send. Remember, just one slight difference in your email marketing campaign can set you apart from your competition. And this section will show you 4 emails that will give you that differentiation factor.
Now that we’ve looked at the top 15 ecommerce emails you should be sending, let’s quickly look at 4 that few do send. Remember, just one slight difference in your email marketing campaign can set you apart from your competition. And this section will show you 4 emails that will give you that differentiation factor.
One of the reasons for high unsubscribe rates is that customers get fed up with receiving too many emails. This is why it’s important that you send your subscribers an email asking them to set their preferences. The result will be an increase in customer satisfaction and engagement.
Another advantage of sending your subscribers to a preference center is that they will self-segment, cutting down your work of creating segments. The result is that you’re more able to send personalized emails, which in turn results in an increase in sales.
Click to preview“We’re sorry you missed our special offer…”
This is one ecommerce email that can help you maximize your special offer campaigns. Sending this email to subscribers who missed your offer is a great way to:
Everything a subscriber does, and in this case what they don’t do, is an opportunity for you to enhance your marketing campaign. Sending a ÿou missed it” email is definitely a great way to extend your marketing campaign and increase its impact.
Click to previewSometimes shoppers visit your website and browse through your category product pages but don’t load their cart. In fact, only about 10% of website visitors actually make it to your cart page.
This is why you need to utilize browse abandonment emails.
Browse abandonment emails are simply emails that are designed to retarget website visitors who leave your site before purchasing anything. When a subscriber does this, it’s easy to notice. Send them an email to ask if they were looking for something specific and that you can help them find it. Doing this is a great way to increase your conversion rates.
For more information Check our browse abandonment email examples here
Click to previewSometimes a new customer can get distracted whilst in the midst of completing their profile. Don’t lose heart when this happens. All you need to do is send them an email reminding them to complete their profile. Of course, an incentive will increase your open and conversion rates.
So, before you delete those inactive subscribers, run a reactivation campaign first. You’ll be surprised at how many subscribers will “come back”.
Want to know which other automations you can set for your ecommerce store? Here’s our guide on ecommerce email automation.
If you need help managing your email campaigns then check our email marketing management services.
Click to previewWhen it comes to winning the battle for the inbox, you’ll have to make sure you only play your “A” game. Implement email marketing best practices. Here are a few you can’t afford to ignore:
Personalization is key to making your emails more engaging and relevant to your subscribers. Use their name, location, or other data to personalize subject lines and content and make them feel valued.
If you want to derive the best results for your ecommerce business, the first thing you need to do is to measure the effectiveness of your email campaigns. While there are several ways to do so, here are some of the metrics we highly recommend:
While this is not a comprehensive list of email marketing best practices, they are enough to get you started scoring some big wins with your email marketing.
It would be unfair on you if we concluded this post without warning you about some common email marketing ecommerce mistakes you need to avoid. This is because any slip up could cost you a lot of money. So, here are the top ecommerce email mistakes you need to avoid:
These 7 email marketing mistakes should be avoided like they plague. They have the potential of ruining your reputation and tanking your revenue.
The revenue from email marketing is expected to exceed $11 billion in 2023. To make the most of the opportunity, email marketers need to stay updated with the latest developments and trends. In no particular order, these are:
Knowing every ecommerce email you need to send and when to send it is critical to growing your business. Leave out one type of email for ecommerce in your campaign and you can end up leaving money on the table. And that is just not good for business.
Need help? Get in touch with our Ecommerce Email Marketing Agency.
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